Volkssturm

The Volkssturm was the national militia of Nazi Germany, existing from 18 October 1944 to 8 May 1945 during World War II. Adolf Hitler conscripted German boys and men from ages 16 to 60 to serve in the new home guard, and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels encouraged the German people to wage a "total war" against the Allied Powers as they pushed into the German homeland. Because there were not many weapons available to supply the Volkssturm, Hitler had the Volkssturm equipped with the Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon in addition to whatever other weapons they could find. 60,000 Volkssturm troops fought in the Battle of Berlin from 16 April to 2 May 1945 as the Soviet Red Army advanced into the German capital, and the Volkssturm made up a half of the 1,230,000 German losses during the last four months of the war.